We just got back from a last minute camping excursion that lasted two weeks and covered 3,600 miles! It was our first time camping...ever...and we did it in our '72 Argosy 20. We've been restoring it and an Argosy 28' motorhome for several months.
Anyway, my wife came home one day and informed me that she had purchased a ticket to a Design convention (she's a graphic design student) in Denver. We live in Indianapolis. We decided it would be a great opportunity to take our two sons who we homeschool on a field trip. We decided to bring "Moose" our Chihuahua along tool.
The motorhome is still under serious mechanical restoration so the likely candidate was the travel trailer. The race was on to get it ready.
I had to kick it into overdrive and finish sanding and coating the endcaps, sealing the window gaskets, replacing belt strips, replacing tires, replacing shocks, repairing belly skin, replacing black water drain valve, replacing clearance lights, installing modified tail lights, replacing license plate bracket, cutting off old bumper mounts (PO had extended bumper and installed pickup truck tool box behind it), installing new spare tire bracket, and getting the whole thing titled and plated. This was all accomplished in six loooong days!
We left Indy and traveled through St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Amarillo TX, Oklahoma City, Memphis and then back to Indy in 12 days.
Our primary camp location was in Castle Rock Colorado at the Castle Rock RV Resort. I had stayed there twelve years ago when it was a KOA. It has since become what I guess you could call an "independant". The staff was very friendly and helpful. There are, however, train tracks running along side the campground that are busy day and night.
I have never been so grateful for windows that open in my life! The poor dog was getting blamed for any odd odor that entered (or exited) the vehicle. I will admit that he was, in fact, sometimes to blame, however had he actually committed all the crimes he was accused of, I'm sure we would have had to bury him by Amarillo!
The water heater was particularly cranky about lighting at the higher altitudes, however, once lit it worked well. We also discovered that four people can exist in a 20 foot travel trailer, but they had better get along really well. The "he's touching me" or "quit hogging the covers" or "move over!" complaints were rampant. And that was just my wife! The boys were usually so tired at the end of the day that they just fell into bed and conked out. The Chihuahua had no problems as he takes up just a bit more space than a tennis shoe and can breathe while completely under the covers.
My wife flew back for classes after a few days and then it was just
myself, the two boys, and a chihuahua. We headed south out of Castle
Rock to explore.
We pulled into the Amarillo KOA about 2am. We always found ourselves hooking up using whispers and hand signals as we always seemed to get in later than I wanted. My oldest son has become quite good at getting the water hooked up. He even remembers how to keep the hose clean and uncontaminated. This is especially amazing considering the condition of his room at home. We always had to hook up the sewer line since the Argosy has no grey water tank. It also doesn't have a lot of extra space for things like a portable grey water tank.
The boys (and "Moose") had a great time. We picked up a couple of National Park Passport books which they began filling with stamps and stickers as we traveled back.
One problem I had was having to stop every couple of days and re-secure parts of the belly skin. The skin is original and quite oxydized. I would re-rivet any part that looked suspect, but would always have another panel part come loose down the road. Now that I'm home I think I'll do a serious replacement of belly skin. I also discovered that raising up under the open door of the trailer will inflict a mark on your head that resembles the one on a past Soviet leader.
We were going to head from Oklahoma City to St. Louis but storms blocked our way. So we decided to head for Memphis and see Graceland. We stayed at the Graceland RV Campground on "Jailhouse Rock Road". The facilities were in good condition, but it was incredibly crowded. It looked kind of funny having all those Prevost and SOB monster RV's with our little Argosy 20 in the middle! I figured if the storms came through, we'd be protected by the behemoths around us. Plus, if anyone decided to rob an RV there, they would have to be pretty desparate to work their way down to our unit.
We visited Graceland and had a great time. Someone asked me if I got choked up at the Kings gravesite. I told them the only time I got choked up was at the ticket counter. Besides, Elvis is still living there on the second floor.
Once the tour was over we collected Moose (did I mention we had to deposit him at a Vet's office while we were in Graceland?) and headed north. By the way, if you visit Graceland with a pet, there is a place just down the road that will board them for $8.00 a day.
We left Memphis at about 5pm Indy time and arrived at home at 4am. There is no direct way to get from Memphis to Indy, but all along my route I kept seeing signs listing the roads as the "Future I69 corridor".
All in all the trailer performed even better than I expected it to. The tires I had installed did great. The wife wanted the vintage look so we went with Cooper 7.00 x 15 tires. The AC unit is an original Armstrong and it was cold as ice. The furnace was non functional, but we had a small ceramic heater that worked perfectly even when it snowed on us in Colorado. I had to find an adapter to connect the Thetford hookup to a standard hose, but the valve and water system worked great too.
It was a great trip and a learning experience for all of us. Now I'm more motivated than ever to finish the motorhome. I could really use the extra 8 feet on the next trip!
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